It's Never Too Late

My brother-in-law Stu turns 40 next month. And with that
momentous birthday comes a dream unfulfilled. One of Stu's
goals was to be featured in Entrepreneur's "Young
Millionaires" issue and, sad to say, he's never going to
be. Stu still toils in the corporate world, planning to start his
own business-

I'm not putting Stu down. He's one of the most creative
people I've ever met, and I'm certain someday he will be a
successful business owner. But Stu is not alone. How many of us
haven't yet accomplished the goals we set last month, last year
or last decade? I'd say most of us.

I say this not to make you feel bad that you didn't do what
you set out to do, but to implore you to take action and decide
what you are going to do about those goals in the future. There are
no pat answers here. Sometimes you just have to let go of a goal.
Sometimes you need to embrace it or re-evaluate it. But in most
cases, before you can do any of those things, you need to figure
out why a particular goal has gone unfulfilled.

For some, it's simple fear that holds us back. Most of us
are afraid of something, and we often let that fear interfere with
our goals. So first ask yourself "What am I afraid of?"
You need to identify the source of the fear before you can set
about overcoming it. Fear of failure is a common one, but chances
are, since most of you are fairly well along in the course of your
businesses, this by itself is not at work in your psyches.

But you may not be accomplishing- even setting-
because you're afraid to take those next steps. You've got
a good thing going, and you don't want to do anything to mess
it up. So you're content to maintain the status quo. At least,
you think you are. The truth is, for most entrepreneurs,
"status quo" is a dirty word. So there's likely an
internal struggle going on in your brain between needing to grow
and fearing to grow.

Or perhaps it's fear of success that keeps you from
disturbing the status quo. Will success change you? Change how your
family and friends perceive you? Challenge your comfort level?
Maybe it will, but is that necessarily a bad thing? At some point
in our lives, we all need to get uncomfortable.

Some goals will never be accomplished because they are no longer
relevant or realistic. Others may still be attained, just not in
the time frame you originally imagined. But you need to revisit
those goals before you can determine that.

Goals don't come in one size. Some dream big, like Fred
DeLuca and Howard Schultz, two of the most successful entrepreneurs
of all time. (Read about how they achieved success in
"Serving
Up Success.") Others have smaller ambitions. No matter
which category you fall into, don't ever stop reaching for the
stars. Even if, like Stu, you miss hitting one or two of your
targets, you will, if you persist, be sure to connect on
another.